John Jakes

The first volume of John Jakes's acclaimed and sweeping saga about a friendship threatened by the divisions of the Civil War In the years leading up to the Civil War, one enduring friendship embodies the tensions of a nation. Orry Main from South Carolina and George Hazard from Pennsylvania forge a lasting bond while training at the United States Military Academy at West Point. Together they fight in the Mexican-American War, but their closeness is...

From the "New York Times" bestselling author who "makes history come brilliantly alive" ("The Washington Post Book World") comes a novel that spans decades and generations--from the American Revolution through the downfall of the Confederacy--in Jakes's most ambitious work yet.

One man's ambitious journey into the heart of California's gold country becomes a pursuit for limitless wealth in the face of devastating ruin At the height of California's Gold Rush, men left everything behind for the chance at striking it rich. Now, some thirty years after its peak, gold fever still entices adventurous Easterners like James Macklin Chance to the western frontier. A wanderer and a nobody, James is drawn to California by the dream...

In a flourishing post–Civil War America, the Kent family seizes good fortune again-until all is suddenly threatened by one woman's return The penultimate volume in John Jakes's stirring Kent Family Chronicles finds America booming in its postwar prosperity. With this newly secured peace comes an opportunity for the Kent family to reconcile and to thrive, both personally and financially. Gideon Kent takes up his father's vow to reunite the family,...

The members of the Kent family's most dynamic generation face internal clashes as the Civil War ignites In the hellish years of the Civil War, the Kent family faces its greatest trials yet. Louis, the devious son of the late Amanda Kent, is in control of the dynasty-and of its seemingly inevitable collapse. His cousin Jephtha Kent, meanwhile, backs the abolitionist cause, while his sons remain devoted Southerners. As the country fractures around the...

Against the backdrop of the harsh and unforgiving American frontier, Abraham Kent seeks to build a life and identity of his own Continuing the saga of the Kent family, John Jakes turns his masterful eye to the settlement of the untamed American West. Abraham Kent, the son of Philip Kent and Anne Ware, fought valiantly on the frontier, only to return home to Boston and a life he doesn't want. Determined not to live in his father's shadow, Abraham and...

The searing conclusion to the North and South Trilogy brings the battle between the Mains and Hazards-and Confederate and Union armies-to a brilliantly satisfying end The last days of the Civil War bring no peace for the Main and Hazard families. As the Mains' South smolders in the ruins of defeat, the Hazards' North pushes blindly for relentless industrial progress. Both the nation and the families' long-standing bond hover on the brink of destruction....

A monumental American novel about one man's rise from life as a penniless immigrant to the head of a family empire In the tradition of great writers like Charles Dickens and John Steinbeck, John Jakes crafts a sweeping family drama. In late-nineteenth-century Chicago, the tragedies and triumphs of the Crowns illustrate the power of the American Dream. As immigrants to America, their turbulent story spans a decade marked by the vicious Pullman Strike,...